Shaukat Aziz

Shaukat Aziz is a Pakistani-born British former banker who served as the 15th prime minister of Pakistan. He held this position from 28 August 2004 until 15 November 2007. Before becoming prime minister, he acted as the finance minister of Pakistan starting on 6 November 1999.

Early life and education

Aziz was born in Karachi on 6 March 1949. He attended Saint Patrick's School in Karachi and Abbottabad Public School in Abbottabad, Pakistan. His father, S.A. Aziz, worked as a chief engineer for the state-owned Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation. Because of his father's employment, the family moved to Abbottabad before eventually returning to Karachi.

He completed his high school diploma at Saint Patrick's High School. After this, he attended Government College in Lahore to pass his inter-level studies. In 1965, he moved to Gordon College in Rawalpindi to continue his education. He earned a BS degree in Economics from Gordon College in 1967. Aziz returned to Karachi that same year to begin a master's programme at the Institute of Business Administration. He successfully obtained an MBA in business administration in 1969.

Career

Aziz began his professional journey in 1969 when he joined Citibank Pakistan as a credit officer. Throughout his banking career, he worked in several different countries including Greece, Malaysia, and Singapore. He also held positions in the United States, United Kingdom, Philippines, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia. While working in the United States, he managed Citibank operations at the Empire State Building in New York City.

He held various high-level roles within Citicorp and Citibank. These included serving as the Chief Financial Officer of Citicorp and the managing director of Citibank Singapore. He also functioned as the corporate director for Asia Pacific global finance operations. Aziz served on the boards of several subsidiaries, such as Saudi American Bank and Citicorp Islamic Bank. In the 1990s, he worked with the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to negotiate economic relief. According to author John B. Taylor, Aziz maintained substantial access to the US Treasury and the World Bank.

In 1999, Aziz entered politics at the personal request of Pervez Musharraf. He moved from the United States to Pakistan to assume the role of finance minister. During his tenure, he managed the restructuring of state-owned mega-corporations to prepare them for privatisation. He implemented the Privatisation Programme in 2001, which opened state-owned enterprises to the private sector. Aziz also worked with the United States Department of the Treasury to secure aid and debt relief following the September 11 attacks.

He was nominated by Musharraf to serve as prime minister in 2004. This nomination followed the resignation of Zafarullah Khan Jamali on 6 June 2004. Aziz led the country until his term ended on 15 November 2007. Once his time in office concluded, he left Pakistan and settled in the United Kingdom.

Personal life

Aziz was born in Karachi to S.A. Aziz, a radio engineer. While living in the United States, he acquired permanent residence status but did not obtain American citizenship. He moved from the United States to Pakistan in 1999 to begin his political career. After leaving his role as prime minister, he relocated to the United Kingdom.